An ono pupu for the the peak bagging g-spot of your soul. Recommend sleeping higher up to acclimatize for this one. I slept at the radio transmitter towers at 8900 feet (more privacy and off the road). Taking 4 liters of water is recommended as well. 7 hours 20 minutes round trip in a bizarre and very interesting place. Enjoy!

hiked up the lava fields from the Observatory. Pretty barren. Hiked on snow for the last 2.5 miles about 13000 feet, resulting in a sunburn on the back of the knees that I had not expected. Coming up from sea level in one day, this is a good way to see if you are prone to mountain sickness

Took the observation trail, camping just below the summit. What a spectacular night view of the star. Appeared so close you could almost touch them. Received light snow in the middle of the night as well. I need to go back some day in the near future and climb via the Mauna Loa Trail and again camp out on or near the summit.
I highly recommend this mountain.

During a week of unsettled weather on the Big Island, my buddy Duane and I felt rather lucky to attempt this one when the mountain was bathed in sunshine while Mauna Kea was covered with clouds. The snow line was just below the weather observatory, but we were able to drive all the way to the parking lot. The "trail" lived up to its reputation of being difficult due to the lava, but the snow seemed to make it even more difficult. The GPS guided us to the summit, although it was impossible to tell from the view. It got dark about 30 minutes before we were able to get back to the car, so we had to find it in the dark. Thank goodness for GPS! Tough day!

Sunday morning to the cabin, low water at the hole but clear water in the tank. Awesome sun rise on Monday. Very cold hike to the summit. Gloves and a hat the whole way. This is a very big and lonely place to have all to oneself for two days. I will come back some day to explore the crater and maybe hike all the way arround it.

Took the easy dayhike from the weather observatory at 11K. Distance can be covered quickly, but it takes quite awhile to gain elevation as it is very gradual. A 2.8 mile hike still remains after you reach the rim at ~13K'. The crater is awesome.

I've hiked Mouna Loa twice with my father. The first time was our second backpacking trip. It was freezing in the early morning (well, freezing for a person who lives in hawaii) I climbed up read hill the first day in 2003 to take sunrise pictures (it was windy and cold!) perfect weather that trip. The second time we wanted to descend via the Ainapo trail... but at the summit we experiance hail and thunder so we decided to decend a more familiar route. Mouna Loa will always remain my favorite mountain, and my time spent there charished. Mouna Loa has always captivated me as a child... the start of my obsesion of gaining altitude! If you go to hawaii do Mouna Loa and call me! because I want to come too!

p.s. For those of you who've done the Mouna Loa aren't those 20 miles from the caldera lip to the cabin the longest twenty miles of your life! (well... 2 miles actually.. for those who've not yet experianced the distortion in time and space)

Only went to the cabin. Rained from 3pm til late the next day. Truly an erie expierence in the rain and fog. Shared the cabinthat night with an altitude sick hiker who came in late and soaked to the bone. Talked him into returning with us and gave him a ride around the island to his car.